Mill.



fishnets-sheet I Patented Feb. 13, I900. J. A; P EER. MILL.

Applicati on filed Mar. 24, 1899 (No Model.)

No. 643,273. Patented Feb. l3, I900.

J. A. PEER.

MILL

(Application filed Mar. 24, 1899.)

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N0. 643,273. Patented Feb. l3, I900.

J. A. PEER.

6 Shaels-Sheet 4.

mzpoams uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu c No. 643,273. Patented Feb.l3, I900. J. A. PEER.

' MILL.

(Application filed Mar. 24, 1899.) (No Model.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

Patented Feb. I3, l900..

J. A. PEER.

MiLL.

(Application filed x. 24, 1599.

6 Sheats-Sheet 8.

(No Model.)

/ Ty: NORRIS PETERS co, PHDYO-LITHOJWASHINGTOM a. c

"TATESI ATENT FFICE.

JOHN A. PEER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

MILL.-

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,273, dated February13, 1900.

Application filed March 24,1899. Serial No. 710,345. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. PEER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Mills;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention is an improved mill; and it consists in the novel featuresof construction and combination of parts hereinafter described,reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which illustrate oneform in which I have contemplated embodying my invention, and saidinvention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a millembodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinalsection of the mill. tails of parts of the construction. Fig. 5 is aview of the concave stationary cutting-disk.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the convex revolu ble cutting-disk. Fig. 7is a vertical sectional view on line 7 7 of Fig. 2. Fig. Sis an enlargedsectional view showing the operation of the rotary cutters in relationto the stationary knives and the serrated feeding-ring inclosing thesame. Fig. 9 is a detail View of a portion of the concave stationarydiskand convex rotary disk, showing one knife of each disk and illustratingthe manner in which the inclined cutting edges of said knives cooperate.Fig. 10 represents a section on line 10 10 of Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is anelevation looking into the casing G with casing H removed. Fig. 12 is adetail view of the knife-plate and rotary knives. Fig. 7, showing aslight modification of my invention. Fig. 14 is a detail perspectiveview of the annular serrated feeding-plate.

Fig. 15 is a similar view of the stationary knifeplate and stationaryknives.

The object of my invention is to produce a mill in which the material iscontinuously out, split, and sheared from the time it enters the milluntil it leaves it, becoming continuously finer and finer until itreaches the condition of an almost impalpable powder; and to this end itinvolves the novel features Figs. 3 and 4 are de-.

Fig. 13 is a view similar to of construction hereinafter described. Thepart-s of my mill which perform this cutting, splitting, and shearingaction do not come in contact with each other, so that there is comparatively little friction, and the mill can be run at an extremely highspeed, and I also provide means for directly cooling the materialoperated upon to prevent any danger of injuriously heating the same.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the main body or casing of myimproved mill, which is provided on one side with a circular recess a,in the bottom of which is formed the concave stationary cutting plate ordisk A, which may be cast or formed integrally with the main casing, asindicated in the drawings, or may be formed separately and securedthereto, if preferred. B represents a bracket which is preferably formedseparate from the casing A and bolted or otherwise secured thereto andis provided with two bearings I) for the horizontal shaft b, the saidbracket B and easing A being supported upon a bed or stand 0 or anyother suitable support. The shaft b is provided between its bearingswith a band-wheel b and said shaft extends to an opening in the casing Aconcentric with the stationary cutting-plate and is provided within thecasing A with a revolving convex cutting disk or plate B, which issecured to and revolved with the shaft 1?. The inner end of the shaft 17is tapered, as shown in Fig. 2, and the re volving plate or disk B isprovided with a similarly shaped aperture therethrough, which fitstightly upon the tapered portion of the shaft.

13 represents a knife-plate which preferably engages a recess extendingdiametrically across the flat rear face of the rotary cuttingdisk, saidplate being provided witha central aperture, through which the shaft Z)passes. The extreme end of the shaft is provided with a threadedportion, a nut, and washer, by means of which the knife-plate B issecured to the disk B, and both are firmly united to the shaft 6 andmade to turn therewith. The knife-plate B is provided at each end with aseries of knives b hereinafter described, and I prefer to form theseknives integral with the knife-plate B and secure the knife-plate to therotary disk in the manner described, this being a very simple, cheap,and effective construction. It is obvious, however, that these knivesmight be made separate from each other and separately attached to therear face of the rotary disk by other means.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a view of the stationary cutting disk orplate as it would appear looking directly into it after removingtherotarycutting-disk. Thisstationarydisk A is concave, as heretoforedescribed, and is provided with several rows of cutting-knives aconcentric with each other and the disk, the knives of each row beingseparated by i11- tervals and the knives of each row being l0- catedopposite the intervals between the knives of the adjacent rows. All ofthese knives are of substantially the same construction, although theydiffer somewhat in size and length according to their differentpositions upon the concave surface of the disk,

the knives nearest the center of the plate be-' ing coarser and of lesslength than those nearer the periphery of the disk. Each of these knivesis triangular in cross-section and is provided at one end with a face ainclined to the longitudial axis of the knife. This inclined face formsan acute angle with the inner lateral face of the knife, forming anelongated backwardly-inclined cutting edge a and said face or forms anobtuse angle with the outer lateral face of the knife, forming an edge asubstantially perpendicular with the plate or disk A. The said inclinedfaces a thus extend from the cutting edges of the knives outwardly andtend to move the material toward the periphery of the disk or plate A asit is cut. The inclined cutting edges a are located at the same endsrelatively of all the knives, as indicated in Fig. 5. The arrangement ofthe knives is such that there are formed curved passages for thematerial to pass outwardly from the center of the disk to the peripherybetween the knives of the various rows, one of these passages beingindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, and the direction of the materialin so passing outwardly will be the direction of rotation of therevolving cutting-disk, thus bringing it in front of the cutting edges aof the knives of the various rows.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a plan view of the convex rotary cutting-disk,which conforms in contour to the concave stationary disk and is providedwith a number of rows of knives corresponding in construction to thoseof the stationary disk, the knives of the rotary disk being adapted totravel between without touching the knives of the stationary disk. Theknives b of the rotary disk are constructed as before described withreference to the knives a and are provided with the front inclined facesb forming the elongated inclined cutting edges 29 and obtuse verticaledges b the inclined faces 5 inclining outwardly from the cutting edges19 When the two disks or plates are in operative position,

ut touching.

the knives of the one lie'between the knives of the other,the cuttingedges of the knives of the two plates lying in opposite directions, thecutting edges of each knife on each plate lying next to the outerlateral faces of the adjacent knives of the other plate. It will thus beseen that the material is out between the inclined cutting edges a or bof the knives of one plate and the perpendicular edges a or b of theknives of the other plate, effecting a shearing cut, as will be seen inFig. 10. It will also be seen that when a knife of one plate has cut thematerial the material will be forced by the inclined face a or b to theother side of said knife, and thus into the path of the cutting edges ofthe next adjacent row of knives of the other plate, and this operationis effected by every knife on each plate or disk.

In Figs. 9 and 10'are shown detail views which illustrate the manner inwhich the cutting edges a Z2 operate in connection with the inclinedfaces of the knife and act like a pair of shears upon the material, thesaid knives running as close together as is possible with- It will benoticed that as the cutting edges a and b are formed by the junction ofthe inclined faces a and b with the lateral faces of the knives thewearing away of the knives, if there be any perceptible wear, will besuch that the knives are practically self-sharpening and will alwayspresent the sharp cutting edges a and 12 The knives b of the rotary disk13" are also so arranged that passages are provided between the knivesfor the material operated upon extending from the center of the disk ina curved line to the periphery.

It will be understood that when the rotary disk is in operation, and Ihave found it desirable to rotate it at a speed from three to fivethousand revolutions per minute, the centrifugal action upon thematerial forces itfrom the center of the two disks toward the periphery,and in passing from one row of knives to the other it is successivelycut, split, and sheared by the cutting edges a and b of the knives a andb For convenience of reference in the claims I designate the end of eachknife which is provided with the face a IT and edges a b and a b thecutting end of the knife, by which I mean the end of the knife at whichthe shearing, splitting, and cutting action takes place. I also preferto designate these knives as such to distinguish them from the teeth ofgrinding-mills in which the material is ground between the lateral facesof such teeth and breakers, hullers, and analogous devices, in which thelateral edges of the teeth thereof do not travel in sufficiently closeproximity to effect a shearing action.

In order to secure the proper adjustment of the rotary disk with respectto the stationary disk, so that the knives of the former can travel veryclose to, but without touching, the knives of the latter, I employ,preferably, the

construction shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. In these figures, Drepresents a yoke which is secured. to the bracket B adjacent to theouter bearing 11 of the shaft 1), and within said yoke is a slide d,having guiding-flanges cl at each side, which engage a guiding-rib d oneach side of the yoke. The shaft 1) is provided near its outer end withan annular groove 6 d (1 represent the two halves of a split collar,which surround the end of the shaft 1) and are held within the slide dby screws d (1 The halves of the split collar are provided each with asemi-annular rib or web diwhich projects into the annular groove orrecess 1) in the shaft, thus securing the slide (1 to the shaft, butpermitting the revolution of the shaft. d represents an adjusting-shafthaving a headed portion 01 within the slide (Z, the said adjustingshafthaving a threaded portion which extends loosely through an unthreadedaperture in the end of the yoke D and is provided withan adj usting-nutd preferably in the form of a handwheel, as shown, having a centralthreaded aperture engaging the screw-threaded shaft d and a jam-nut d ofthe same form. In order to allow the revolving disk B to move away fromthe stationary disk in case any refractory material is introduced intothe mill which would be liable to injure the parts thereof, such aspieces of iron or steel, I prefer to interposc a spring c1 between theshaft 1) and its adjusting devices. In Fig. 3 I have shown this springinterposed between the nut 01 and the end of the yoke; but it may beused in other ways to produce the same re sult. I also prefer to providea washer (1 (see Figs. 2 and 3) between the end of the shaft and thehead of the adjusting-shaft d for the purpose'of preventing the rotationof the shaft from accidentally operating the adj usting-shaft or wearingthe head of the same.

As previously described, the rear face of the rotary disk is providedwith a diametrically opposite series of knives 12 which in this instanceare formed integrally with the knifeplate E the said knives being set ata sharp angle to the radius of the disk and parallel to each other andprovided with sharp cutting edges b and inclined guiding-faces bextending inwardly therefrom. The casing A is provided with a ring Eadjacent to the rear face of the disk B, which ring is provided with aseries of serrations forming inclined projections 6, adjacent to thepoints of which the knives 11 travel, as will be clearly seen in Figs. 7and 8. The projections e of the ring Eare provided with long inclinedfaces 6, extending in a direction opposite to that of the knives b anddeep recesses e are formed between the projections, into which thematerial passes from the disks A B. The material which enters therecesses e is forced by the direction of rotation of the disk B totravel along the inclined faces e of the projections which carry itinwardly to a point where it is cut and split and sheared by the knivesb and on account of this action of the said proj ections in feeding thematerial inward to the knives I prefer to term this plate the serratedfeeding-plate. I also provide a series of cut ting-knives on the innerside of the'path of the rotary knives, which stationary knives f arearranged concentrically to the axis of rotation of the rotary knives. Inthe present instance I have shown an annular stationary I knife-plate F,which is secured to the casing A and provided with a circular series ofthe stationary knives f, projecting in to the recess Ct of the casing A,and provided with cutting edges f, extending in a direction opposite tothe direction of rotation of the rotary knives, (see particularly Figs.7 and 8,) and inclined inwardly-extending guiding-facesf The knives fare preferably made diamond shape in cross-section, and their outeredges or faces are so close to the path of the rotary knives that therotary knives almost touch them in passing. Referring to Figs. 7 and 8,the action of the rotary knives in conjunction with the serratedfeeding-plate and the stationary knives f will be apparent. The materialoperated upon, which has been brought to a finely-divided condition bythe knives of the cutting-disks A B, will be forced outwardly bycentrifugal force and will find its way to the recesses e of theserrated feeding-plate E. The circular action of the rotary knives willcause said material to pass along the inclined surfaces 6 of theprojections e to the points of said projections, where it will be actedupon by the cutting edges of the knives b b and out, split, and shearedinto still finer particles. The material will then pass along theinclined guiding-faces b of the knives 1) toward the axis of rotation ofsaid knives and will thus be brought into the field of operation of thecutting edges f of the stationary knives f, which will still furtherout, split, and shear the material, which passes inwardly along theguiding-faces f in the condition of an almost impalpable powder.

The recess a of the casing A opens into a casing G, which extends inthis instance a considerable distance above the casing A. I find itconvenient to form the casings A and G in a single casting; but thecasing G may be formed separately and secured to the easing A, ifdesired. The casing G is open on its outer side and communicates with asimilar casin g H, which is preferably hinged thereto at one side andsecured to its other side by means of a bolt g, pivoted to the easing Gat g, engaging a slotted lug h on the casing H and provided with awing-nut 9 as clearly shown in Fig. l. The casing H is also provided onits outer face with a door h, hinged to the casing and secured at itsopposite edge by a pivoted bolt 7L2, engaging a slotted lug h of thedoor and provided with a wing-nut h so that access may be had to theinterior of the casing H when desired. Between the casings H and G isinterposed a removable screen I, which is preferably clamped along theedges between the meeting faces of the two casings, so that by looseningthe nut g disengaging the bolt g from the slotted lug h, and swingingthe casing H on its hinges away from the casing G the screen I may beremoved and another screen of larger or smaller mesh can be readilyinserted. The casing H is provided with a horizontal air-tube 7L whichis concentric with the shaft b and extends inwardly through the casing Gto a point adjacent to the inner end of the shaft 17, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2, in which figure the tube It is broken away for theclearer showing of the stationary knives f. The air-tube k is providedwith one or more screens h to prevent the admission of any foreignmatter with the air into the interior of the mill. The said airtubenecessarily passes through the screen I, and in order to hold saidscreen firmly around the air-tube I find it convenient to provide theexterior of the air-tube with screw-threads, as indicated in Fig. 2, andto employ a pair of threaded clamping-rings h h between which the edgesof the screen are clamped.

The casing G is provided at its upper end with an opening 9 whichcommunicates with an outlet-tube 9 provided with a cut-off slide orvalve 9 for closing or regulating the outlet at this point. The casing His provided at its lower end with a discharge-outlet 72/8. The rear faceof the rotating cutting-disk B is provided with two or more fan-bladesK, (see Figs. 2 and 7,) which draw air inward through the air-tube 7L5and force it into the casing G.

L represents a feeding-hopper communieating by a tube Z with thestationary and revolving cutting-disk and adapted to deliver thereto thematerial to be operated upon. This tube Z is provided with a cut-offslide or valve Z for the purpose of regulating the feed of the materialto the mill.

The operation of the mill is as follows: The material is placed in thehopper L, passes down the tube Z, and between the stationary andrevolving disks A B, where it is operated upon by the inclined cuttingedges a b of the teeth of said disks,and is cut,split,and sheared intosmall particles and at the same time fed by centrifugal force toward theperiphery of the revolving disk. The material passes around theperiphery of the disk to the serrated feeding-plate E and is then actedupon by the rotary knives b b and stationary knives f, as has beenheretofore minutely described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8. Thefan-blades K K draw air into the air-tube h which mingles with thefinely-divided material, and when the slide or valve 9 at the top of thecasing G is closed the air laden with the finely-divided particles isblown by the fan through the screen I into the casing H and out throughthe discharge-aperture 71 The material, which is sufficiently fine topass through the screen I, will pass into the chamber H and bedischarged at the bottom through the outlet h into a suitablereceptacle. If any of the particles are of such size that they will notpass through the screen I, they will fall to the bottom of the casing Gand will be drawn into the field of operation of the rotary knives b andstationary knives f and again subjected to the cutting action thereof,soas to be further reduced. By regulating the size of the mesh of thescreen I the fineness of the material discharged can be controlled. Thecurrent of air passing through the tube h into the interior of the milland being discharged therein against the rear "face of the revolvingdisk serves to keep the material operated upon cool, and I have found byexperimentthat even when running at a speed of five thousand revolutionsper minute and above that speed and operating upon very refractorysubstances material will remain cool and there is no danger of anyinjurious heating of the same. With my improved mill it is possible togrind widely-different materials, such as rags, paper, vegeta- V blefibers, grains of all kinds, rock, and ores,

including even the refractory gold-containing quartz, which I havesuccessfully operated upon with'my improved mill. Owing to the fact thatthe revolving parts of the mill do not come into contact with thestationary parts, but rely solely upon the cutting action throughout,there is very little friction in running the mill, and the wear comingupon the cutting edges, which are all self-sharpening on account oftheir peculiar construction, even the most refractory material can bereduced without perceptibly affecting the cutting edges. 13y referenceto Figs. 7 and 8 it will be seen that the cutting edges of the revolvingand stationary knives are formed by the meeting of two plane faces at anacute angle in the same manner that the cutting edges of thediamond-shaped knives of the disks A and B are formed. By virtue of thisconstruction any wear upon these parts will tend to keep the cuttingedges always sharp, or, in other words, all the cutting edges ofmyimproved mill are self-sharpening.

In operating upon the different grains it may be desirable in someinstances to remove the bran, so that it shall not form a part of theproduct. To do this, it is only necessary to open the slide g at the topof the casing G a regulated amount, so as to allow part of theair-current created by the fan-bladesK K to pass out through theexit-pipe 9 The bran being lighter than the starchy particles of thegrain will be wafted to the top of the casing 13 and not being able topass through the screen will be blown out through the pipe 9 while theflour particles will pass through the screen and be discharged throughthe aperture h If it is desirable to grind the entire grain, the valve 9will be closed, and the bran will then be confined within the casing Gand continually returned to the action of the cutting-knives until ithas been reduced to such fineness that it will pass through the meshesof the screen I.

It is not absolutely essential that the serrated feeding-plates shouldextend entirely around the path of the rotary knives, as shown in Figs.2 and 7, and it is not necessary that the series of stationary knives fshould be an annular series. I have found that good results can beobtained, especially in the smaller sizes of my mill, by employing asemi-annular feeding-plate E and a semiannular series of stationaryknives f, as illustrated in Fig. 13, in which the parts of my mill shownare identical with those previously described except in theseparticulars.

For convenience of reference I term the space inclosed by casings G andII the screening-chamber, which is provided with the upperdischarge-aperture g on the side of the screen nearest the revolubledisk and the lower discharge 7L8 on the opposite side of the screen.

IVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mill, the combination with means for effecting a preliminaryreduction of the material, of a curved feeding-plate having its innerface provided with a series of projections, and recesses between saidprojections, and a rotary knife traveling in a path concentric with saidfeeding-plate and provided with a straight shearing edge adapted to passclose to but without touching said projections of the feeding-plate,substantially as described.

2. In a mill, the combination with means for effecting a preliminaryreduction of the material, of a curved feeding-plate having its innerface provided with a series of transversely-extending projectionsprovided with feeding-faces, and transversely-extendin g recessesbetween said projections, and a rotary knife traveling in a pathconcentric with said feeding-plate and having a straight shearing edgeadapted to pass close to but without touching the projections of saidfeedingplate, whereby the material is fed along the feeding-faces ofsaid projections toward the path of said knife, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a mill, the combination with means for effecting a preliminaryreduction of the material, of a curved feeding-plate provided with aseries of projections extending transversely thereof, a series ofstationary knives arranged concentric with and parallel to the innerface of the said feeding-plate, and a revolving knife, adapted to passbetween said feeding-plate and said stationary knives Without touchingthe same, substantially as described.

4. In a mill, the combination with means for eifecting a preliminaryreduction of the material, of a curved feeding-plate, provided with aseries of transversely-extending projections,a rotary knife traveling ina path concentric with said feeding-plate and adapted to pass close to,but without touching the projections thereof, and a series of stationaryknives arranged in a curved line concentric with the path of the rotaryknife, and between said knife and its axis of rotation, the said rotaryknife having projections passing close to but without touching the edgesof said stationary knives, substantially as described.

5. In a mill, the combination wit-h the stationary and revolublecutting-disks, of the circular feeding-plate adjacent the periphery ofthe rotating disk and concentric therewith, provided on its inner facewith projections having inclined surfaces and recesses between saidprojections, a circular series of stationary knives concentric with theinner face of said feeding-plate, and having their cutting portionsextending in a direction opposite to the inclined portions of the saidprojections and a rotary knife adapted to pass between the saidprojections of the feedingplate and said stationary knives,substantially as described.

6. In a mill, the combination with the cutting-disks one of which isrevoluble with respect to the other, said disks being each pro videdwith circular rows of knives having cutting edges and adapted to liebetween adjacent rows of knives on the other disk, of the serratedfeeding-plate, a series of stationary knives arranged concentric withthe ser-,

ratedface of said plate and a revolving knife carried by the revolubledisk and adapted to pass between said stationary knives and the serratedface of said feeding-plate, substantially as described.

7. In a mill, the combination with means for effecting a preliminarycutting of the material, of a curved feeding-plate provided withinwardly extending projections provided with inclined faces, andrecesses between said projections, a curved series of stationary knivesarranged concentric with said projections, said knives having cuttingedges and inclined guiding-su rfaces extending inwardly therefrom and arotary knife adapted to pass between said projections and saidstationary knives, provided with a cutting edge and an inclinedguiding-face extending from said edge inwardly for guiding the materialto the cutting edges of the stationary knives, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a mill, the combination with the main casing and theknife-carrying cutting-disks one of which is revoluble with respect tothe other, of the serrated feeding-plate concen tric with the revolubledisk, a series of stationary knives arranged concentric with theserrated plate, a revoluble knife carried by said revoluble disk adaptedto pass between said serrated feeding-plate and the stationary knives, ascreening-chamber communicating with said casing, and provided with avertical screen having its lower end adjacent to the lower portions ofsaid feeding-plate and stationary knives, said screening-chamber beingprovided with a discharge-aperture, an air-inlet for thescreening-chamber discharging at a point adjacent to the revoluble diskand fan-blades carried by said revoluble disk,substantially asdescribed.

9. In a mill, the combination with the main casing and theknife-carrying cutting-disks, one of Which is revoluble With respect tothe other, of the serrated feeding-plate concentric with the revolubledisk, a series of stationary knives arranged concentric with theserrated plate, a revoluble knife carried by said revoluble disk adaptedto pass between said serrated feedingplate and the stationary knives, ascreening-chamber communicating Wit-h said casing, and provided with avertical screen having its lower end adjacent to the lower portions ofsaid feeding-plate, and stationary knives, said screening-chamber beingprovided With a discharge-aperture in the top 20 or closing the upperdischarge-aperture, an 25 air-inlet for said chamber dischargingadjacent to the revoluble disk and fan-blades carried by said revolubledisk, substantially as described.

I11 testimony whereof I affiX my signature 30 in the presence oftwo'witnesses.

JOHN A. PEER.

Witnesses:

L. P. WHITAKER, J. D. KINGSBERY.

